Baltimore church robbed of nearly $6,000 in cash, checks

A Baltimore church was robbed of thousands of dollars in checks, cash and gift cards last week, police said, when a burglar broke into the church offices and rectory and stole the valuables from a safe.

On the morning of Dec. 16, staff at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Harford Road discovered that approximately $1,400 in cash, $4,235 in checks and gift cards of unknown value were missing from a church safe. According to a police report on the incident, one employee's window had been tampered with, and police believe that sometime between the night of Dec. 15 and the next morning, the burglar accessed the church's second-floor offices by climbing onto an adjacent roof using a church ladder lying near the side of the building.

Police believe the burglar fled the church rectory through the basement door, and left without damaging church property.

Staff at the church declined to comment on the burglary.

Police found that the church's safe was set to "day lock" mode, which allows access to anyone. In addition, the church's alarm system was not turned on at the time of the burglary, and the window the burglar apparently used had been unlocked.

Church staff told police that the church was burglarized in a similar fashion about 12 years ago.

Police spokesman Det. Kevin Brown said no arrests had been made in connection with the incident, and police have no suspects at this time.